Patriots training camp observations: Polk provides glimmer of hope originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
FOXBORO – The second day of Patriots training camp was light on highlights.
One reason? The workout schedule. They spent most of the 90-plus minutes doing dynamic stretching, positional drills and general fine-tuning before spending about 20 minutes in low-contact 11-on-11 scrimmaging.
The other reason? For the fifth straight summer, the Patriots are going through an offensive overhaul and — as we saw the past four summers — it’s a slow burn. To put it nicely. Until the team’s settled on who’s where, how well it can protect and who does what well, daily beatings by their proficient defense will continue.
Give ya something?
Fine. First rep in 11-on-11 for rookie quarterback Drake Maye. He dropped back, showed a little bit of the busy feet he’s working to clean up, then set them and ripped an accurate 15-to-18-yarder to Ja’Lynn Polk in the right seam. First-rounder to second-rounder. Interior throw on time.
That was the flashiest play of the day, ladies and gentlemen. Other than that, the completions for Maye and Jacoby Brissett were mainly check-downs. Slants, curls, digs. Throws the defense will give an offense. They just aren’t at the point where they can take what they want.
If and when they get there, Polk figures to be a part of it. The failures of highly-drafted Patriots receivers is legend. From Tyquan Thornton to N’Keal Harry all the way back to Chad Jackson and Bethel Johnson. Well-established. Polk, the second-rounder from Washington, seems the best bet to break the chain.
Why? He’s out there ALL the time with both the starters and the second team. I don’t know if any receiver has gotten more reps through minicamp and the first two days of camp than Polk. Also, he’s not befuddled. And he’s not getting up limping every other play.
Thornton, Harry, Jackson and Johnson all had SOMETHING redeeming in their games. What submarined them (in Thornton’s case, add a “so far”) is the ability to be available and dependable.
“Whatever they need me to do, that’s what I’m gonna do,” Polk said after practice. “If they need me to run with the 3s, with the 4s, if I gotta do anything on special teams that they want me to do, I’m with it. Whatever’s gonna put this team in a position to win games and change this thing around, I’m with it.”
Polk’s toughness and dependability were definite selling points in the lead-up to the draft, and while there were plenty of wideouts in this class who were bigger or faster (or both), what the Patriots need is a player they can bank on. Especially given the investment being made in Maye.
So on a day with few bright spots, at least there’s a glimmer for you.
Other practice observations
— A bigger crowd showed up on Day 2. Not overflowing. But more in line with a modest turnout than Day 1’s friends-and-family-sized gathering.
— Chukwuma Okarafor has been steady at left tackle through the first two practices. The free agent signing from Pittsburgh is making a switch from right tackle to left and he’s clearly heard the verbal hand-wringing in the media as to whether he can do it.
“I don’t want to be the guy that talks about what he did in the past, but I’ve played left and I’ve played right before,” Okarafor said. “You guys always try to make it a big deal, and to me, it’s really not a big deal.”
I will be the guy that talks about the past. The Patriots have relied on high draft picks (Isaiah Wynn) and free agent reaches (Riley Reiff). They’ve gotten bad luck (Calvin Anderson’s 2023 illness) and bad attitudes (Trent Brown).
What they haven’t gotten is consistent and competent play at offensive tackle on a regular enough basis to give them a shot of playing competent offense. And if they don’t get it this year, they’ll be picking in the top 10 (at worst) once again. So it’s a big deal.
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— Joe Milton was third in line for quarterback reps on Thursday, hopping over 2022 fourth-round pick Bailey Zappe on the depth chart. We’ll keep an eye out to see if that’s permanent. If it isn’t, it remains just a matter of time.
— Tyquan Thornton was targeted and came up with catches on five of the six throws he saw. That’s a decent workload and it’s good consistency.
The “but”? They were really just pedestrian check-down throws. Again, until the offense starts taking chunks the defense doesn’t give it, it’s hard to set off confetti cannons
— Owner Robert Kraft spent a few minutes during practice chatting with contract-irritated edge rusher Matthew Judon. Kraft then spent a few more minutes talking to de facto general manager Eliot Wolf. They may have been discussing any number of things, but given the fact Judon went off about his deal on Wednesday, it’s reasonable to assume that was a topic of conversation.
That Kraft chose to have conversations during practice consecutively in front of a few thousand people in the wake of Wednesday’s session certainly felt like a purpose pitch thrown by Kraft. So what was the purpose? Showing everyone he’s on it? That’s he’s trying to solve things? That he’s redirecting Wolf? There’s a big stadium and a lot of time in the day to have more discreet conversations.
Kraft undoubtedly knows what Wednesday’s conversational landscape was and chose to speak consecutively to both men in public. Doesn’t matter if they were talking about the best takeout pizza in Foxboro; there was a message sent by Kraft to fans, the media and maybe even Judon’s teammates (if they happened to notice). Eventually, we’ll find out what it was.